Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1887-08-12
San Francisco Letter,

DEN.
San Francisco Letter.
Special Correspondence Of the Standard.
SAN Francisco, Aug. 6, 1887.
1t is probable that there are in Sar
francisco great many Chinamer
who pandes te11eerowing and pesni
cious taste for opium who are who'll,
ignorant of the law that makes theil
business crime, punishable by $500
fine, or six months imprisonment; OF
both; and beyond all question no,
very many of the depraved, young
white people, of both sexes, who visi,
their "joints" are aware that they, too
if caught in the act of eating or smok.
ing the baneful weed, are liable to the
same forfeiture of cash or deprivation
of liberty. That Ignorance of the
law excuses nobody" is a very gener.
ally understood maxim, but still a per.
sons want of knowledge that he is
committing crime has generally
been admitted as a sort of palliation
OF an offence; SO that, in some in
stances, certain extenuating circum-
stances may be advanced in favor Of
the Chinese opium sellers and their
besOtted customers. 1t is difficult,
however, to believe that the police
could successfully plead the same ex-
cuse, and yet in Clay street, Sacra-
mento street, Brooklyn Place and in
all parts of Chinatown scores of opium
" joints" with berths arranged one
over the other very much like those in
a passenger steamer, in which victims
of the habit are at all times sleeping
off the effects of their indulgence, are
in full blast. The police seem to know
nothing about them, but any reporter
IN San Francisco could guide them to
half a hundred dens in the course OF
an afternoon, if indeed they needed
such guidance.
On Sunday Captain Sloan, of the
bark Arcturus, from Port Hadlock,
was arrested as his vessel entered the
bay on charge of opium smuggling.
Three thousand five hundred dollars
worth of opium was found secleted in
his private cabin, but he said he was
the victim of a conspiracy and pro-
tested against being locked up ashore.
The Young Women's Christian
Temperance Union, whose members
believe that whisky does u good deal
more damage to the community than
opium, because there is no legal bar to
using it, held several sessions in the
early part of the present week. On
Monday they gave literary and social
entertainment, at which poems were
recited and speeches made waging
fierce war against intemperance.
The State Horticultural Society has
just closed a very interesting conven-
ton. The question of Peach Culture
on the Pacific coast occupied most of
its attention, and it was generally con-
ceded that all parts of the coast States
were admirably adapted for the growth
OF peaches. An unusually large num-
Der of ladies, who had experimental
in peach culture and were anxious for
new light on the subject, listened to
the discussion, and showed by their
appearance that the occupation was a
healthy one at least. Fresh air, pure
water and the use of camalline had en-
abled them to preserve complexions
rivaling the bloom on the fruit they
nurtured, despite exposure to the suns
rays, that ripen the peach but may
sometimes brown or even freckle a
fair face.
Old San Franciscans say that the
climate of the metropolis seems to be
undergoing change. That the month
of August, generally the sunniest ol
the year, should be ushered in by fogs,
cloudy skies, cold winds and drizzling
rain, is surprise indeed, and not a
pleasant one. If the season admitted
Of the possibility of such a thing, any
one, judging by outward appearances,
would be justified in expecting snow
storm. Diphtheria is alarmingly prev!
alent, and the biting breezes are not
calculated to check the disease.
OCCASIONAL.